Lindsay Ell and Bobby Bones Break Up

Lindsay Ell and radio host Bobby Bones are no longer in a relationship. In a lengthy segment on theBobby Bones Show on Monday morning (Oct. 23), Bones revealed the breakup news to listeners.

"I guess I'll go ahead and say it — Lindsay and I broke up," Bones— who hosts a nationally-syndicated iHeartRadio morning show — said to silence from his co-hosts. "I only told [Bobby Bones Show co-host] Amy a couple days ago. So yeah, it sucks. And here's why: I've been dating Lindsay for over a year. We've known each other a few years. We started dating and I was like, 'We probably should think about this before we date because it could hurt your career. Other radio stations, Spotify, they're going to hold it against you that you're dating me. I don't even know these people but they're going to hold it against you.' And they did."

Earlier this year, a radio station in California canceled Ell's planned appearance, citing her relationship status with Bones, who is one of their competitors. The Washington Post first broke the story, and Ell tells the Post that she spoke out about the station because she felt like she was being unfairly singled out because she's a woman.

Country Breakups We Still Aren't Over

"It felt like, all of a sudden, you can’t be a powerful female with goals and dreams and date another powerful person," Ell said at the time. "It’s frustrating to me because I feel like it shouldn’t matter what a guy or a girl [does] in their free time — that shouldn’t affect their business."

Bones admits that this feedback from radio was a major contention in their relationship and ultimately the reason the couple called it quits. "There was at one point a big controversy that a station in Sacramento wouldn't let her in the building to play because she was dating me. There were many, many instances of this happening over and over again. It started to put a stress in our relationship to me where I felt it was my fault because she wasn't able to get anything going," he admits.

Bones goes on to share that this situation would have never happened if Ell were a male artist. While the couple tried to limit social media posts over the past several months, the toll of radio not playing Ell had a "humongous stress" on their relationship.

"Her whole life she's tried to make it as an artist. She finally puts out a record and the record goes No. 1 and then radio stations all over the country won't play it because she's dating me," he explains. "It was weird stress that amplified everything else."

Bones shared that he and Ell called things off last week. Ell released her debut album, The Project, in August, and it debuted at the top of the Nielsen Soundscan Current Country Albums chart. "The Project is the record I’ve wanted to release since I was a little girl, but as an artist, sometimes it takes time to figure out what you want to say and how you want to say it," she says. "I'm so grateful to my entire team for standing by my side throughout the whole process.